Matthew, our guide, drove us about 40 minutes away to a creek of Mangroves where we would do the Kayaking. On the way, he gave us detailed historical info about the Island and areas we passed which was very helpful and interesting. Once at the place where we began the Kayaking he gave us 10 minutes of instructions and tips for navigating the mangrove areas (tighter than most people might expect but easy enough). Several older people in our group complained of back soreness using certain Kayaks and it was understandable--some of the Kayaks were "sit-in" types with a seat/back while others were "sit-on-top" where you will use more Leg than arms/back. My wife had one of those and said she could feel it in her legs for the one she used and the other people felt back soreness. Matthew agreed and did say other past Kayakers mentioned similar experiences so perhaps the company he works for can at least provide some sort of back support for anyone needing it. That said, it's a one way Kayak as you do NOT come back to the starting point and it's about 1-1.5 hours as the water way winds its way through the Mangroves. Our day started off cloudy so we were luck as the heat was not really a big issue. Towards the end the sun came out and wow it got hot and we could see where some folks might have heat issues. You can always jump in the water and swim your Kayak the rest of the way as it's only about 4 feet or so deep...water was nice and cool too and crystal clear...it's NOT a swamp by the way and no snakes or dangerous things in the water. Once the Kayaking was done we parked the boats in this area and used a manual bridge to cross over to a wooden path that lead to the small beach where we had lunch and about an hour beach time. We opted to just eat lunch, take pictures and relax on the benches on the beach but others went swimming. Beautiful location. Then the return trip back to the ship...this port was a short stay so this Kayaking pretty much takes up the entire port stay from arrival at 7am to departure at 2pm. We did have to wake up early for this one but if you are OK with doing that I highly recommend this excursion to try something different.

This was great! We were driven to an area to kayak. We got a quick lesson before our adventure. Sam was AWESOME!! After kayaking we went to Gold Rock beach and did a short walk. There was a picnic lunch for us and we had time on the most beautiful beach. This is a great excursion. Family friendly.

This is without a doubt the highlight of our entire cruise. We are both comfortable in canoes (from our teen years) and have canoed together 5-6 times, but have never kayaked. We found it to be very similar. The bus driver/tour guide, Sam, was friendly, funny, patient with the inexperienced, and kind. There was a head wind for the initial 20 minutes or so, but after that we found the mild current to be in our favor. After the kayaking (in Lucayan National Park), we spent a few minutes on a small private beach while the kayaks were loaded. Then we drove to a GORGEOUS private beach (Gold Rock Beach) and provided with lunch (cold cuts, apples, cookies, lemonade, iced tea, and water - simple but adequate. Our kayak group of 14 was joined by another group of 14 and a group from the Nature tour (so maybe 40-50 people total) and we spent 2 hours on that beach. The bus ride to & from the excursion was about 35 minutes, but the drivers were friendly and the scenery was beautiful, so it passed quickly.

I purchased this shore excursion through Celebrity which almost never stops in Freeport, so there may be some discrepancies with the experience of folks traveling with Carnival.
I purchased this excursion on a bit of a gamble as the Celebrity Infinity was diverted here from Nassau and Cococay because of weather reasons. The description provided by Celebrity was misleading as it made it seem like you'd be kayaking through caves. What actually happens is you go tour a few caves which to me were decidedly underwhelming, but afterwards you get to go kayaking through the mangroves which was a thoroughly memorable experience.
If it is your first time kayaking, be warned that there are some very tight passageways which are challenging enough to navigate even if you're not trying to learn to kayak at the same time.
That being said, for me it was definitely worth it, and I'm glad that the diversion of my cruise resulted in this serendipitous half-day adventure.

We did the Freeport Kayak and Nature Experience. The Kayaking was a lot of fun and you also got to spend time at a beautiful beach. Our tour guide, Lamont, was terrific. Would highly recommend this excursions. If you don't do an excursion in Freeport there is really not much to do right off the ship.

Really enjoyed this. Got a good overview of the island from the guide. The kayaking was great, and the beach we ended up on was desolate and beautiful. This was one of our favorite parts of the trip. Highly recommended.

Kayaking with Nature Experience was the BEST experience I have had on a cruise.
It was very fun and VERY beautiful!!! we went to an area where there was an olf army base, and saw places were they filmed some of the Piartes of the Caribbean movies.
Kayaking through the mangroves was amazing and then you end at a private beach. The water is so clear, and you can walk out about 1/2 a mile and it just gets above your knees! Lunch was incldued too!

If you see Sam, tell him you read this review and he'll put you in his group. He is the most well informed tour guide I've met in a long time, he'll tell you all about the history of the island, the geography of the Island and is a wealth of information regarding the flora and fauna. Fun tour, great guide, good equipment ... NOT A RIP OFF!

This was my favorite island experience overall. My boyfriend and I went on the kayaking and nature experience through the red mangroves where we saw oyster beds and a stingray in the water below our kayaks. We ate lunch and fed hungry raccoons and then were fortunate enough to swim in the most beautiful area of the island. The beach we were on was reportedly where they did supermodel swimsuit shoots for magazines like Sports Illustrated. Our "tablemates" from the cruise went to the public beach and said it was not very nice, and islanders kept trying to sell them things there. The shops back near the port were just so so. Not nearly as extensive shopping as Nassau.

In Freeport we took a Nature Tour of the Lucayan National Park which included: kayaking in the Lucayan park mangroves (awesome!), lunch in a covered pavilion on the beach (basic sandwich supplied), fed the raccoons our bread crusts (awesome!), spent 2 hours on a pristine beach with almost no one else, short walk through the park with guide narrating (and raccoons following), fed fish, then back to the ship. Our guide was fantastic and we would totally do this tour again. At port, we ate fried conch; which was good; a little chewy but tasty.

We did the Kayaking and Nature tour. It was fantastic despite the rain towards the end of the tour. Sam, our guide, was friendly and entertaining. We took a bus to the Lucayan National Forest while he talked about the history of the island. The only part I DID NOT LIKE was that we got pulled over by some shading looking guy in a white car on a deserted road. This guy was lost and angry and when we stopped he got out of his car and walked over to the driver's door. This make us very uncomfortable. Being in a foreign country and knowing that the Bahamas has a crime problem, I thought we were in the making of a "I shouldn't be alive" episode and the guy might pull a gun on us or something. Fortunately it was just some angry guy and after Sam gave directions he pulled away and tried to lighten the mood by making some jokes. The bus ride was about 30min. Arriving at the launch site, we took kayaks down a very gentle creek lined with beautiful mangroves. The water was clear and we could see fish and ancient fossilized oyster beds. After the kayaking we took a "Tom Sawyer" raft across the river to a short hiking trail head that took us to a beach and picnic area where he had a light lunch. Unfortunately this is when it started to rain quite hard but a lot of folks didn't care. We swam in the beautiful blue ocean water anyway. We stated here for about an hour and a half then took a scenic route through the trails when the rain stopped and Sam explained some of the local wildlife and fauna and let us feed some fish in the creek. Then he took us on a drive through Freeport and showed us around town then took us back to the ship. Overall a very great time!

The ladies took the Kayak and Nature Experience and loved it. One guide stayed with us throughout the entire day from kayaking to walking to the beach to walking through the nature area and driving us back to the ship. Kayaking was fun, but don't expect breathtaking scenery just a unique nature experience. Several young kids were in our tour group and they were all okay with an adult in the back doing most of the work. I kayaked as a single and had no issues. Lunch included friendly and adorable raccoon visitors. The beach was gorgeous! Blue, shallow, calm water. Perfect for kids. A bit chilly in mid-April, but not enough to keep anyone out with a huge expanse of water area to spread out in. Highly recommend this tour. Might even do it again myself.

The excursion was very nice and our first time snorkeling. We were driven 30 minutes from Freeport to Barbary Beach, kayaked out to a tiny island, Peterson Cay, and snorkeled with 2 guides for about an hour and a half. We returned to Freeport with just enough time to check out their one attraction, Senor Frogs. All in all, a great day (given that we should have been in Half Moon Cay...).

We booked the Peterson Cay Kayak and Snorkel Tour with a private tour company and had a blast (and saved money). The tour guide made our trip comfortable, gave us info about Freeport during our van ride and helped us kayak against the wind! Snorkeling was awesome and he stopped at a cool beachfront restaurant for lunch on the way back. It was worth it!

We selected a kayak and snorkel trip in Freeport. It was another amazing experience! Our tour guide was awesome, very friendly and funny!! He took us to a beach, were he set everything up for us (got our kayaks prepared). We were in love with the clear blue water. We kayaked about a mile to this private island where we snorkeled on a reef. What a cool experience! There must of been thousands of fish that we saw, and they paid us no mind. They just swam around and along the way, our tour guide was pointing out some pretty neat stuff. I recommend getting an underwater camera or two! We did, the pictures turned out nice. We even saw a barracuda is the distance, it was pretty freaky, but cool! We snorkeled for about an hour or so, there was even a boat that followed close by just in case anyone was short of breath, cold or just didn't want to be in the water anymore. They also provided a nice lunch for us, simple, lunch meat sandwiches, lemonade & tea. Enough to fill us up until we got back to the ship. I would certainly recommend this excursion to anyone!

We selected a kayak and snorkel trip in Freeport. It was another amazing experience! Our tour guide was awesome, very friendly and funny!! He took us to a beach, were he set everything up for us (got our kayaks prepared). We were in love with the clear blue water. We kayaked about a mile to this private island where we snorkeled on a reef. What a cool experience! There must of been thousands of fish that we saw, and they paid us no mind. They just swam around and along the way, our tour guide was pointing out some pretty neat stuff. I recommend getting an underwater camera or two! We did, the pictures turned out nice. We even saw a barracuda is the distance, it was pretty freaky, but cool! We snorkeled for about an hour or so, there was even a boat that followed close by just in case anyone was short of breath, cold or just didn't want to be in the water anymore. They also provided a nice lunch for us, simple, lunch meat sandwiches, lemonade & tea. Enough to fill us up until we got back to the ship. I would certainly recommend this excursion to anyone!